Freelancer: Return of the Nomads
by wildwriter
Summary: 1 year after freelancer, Trent had everything, money, power and fame, but he faced another conflict, The Nomads returned and want Revenge.
1. Prologue

**My New story, sorry I delete my previous stories. Enjoy!**

FREELANCER: RETURN OF THE NOMADS

PLANET MANHATTAN, NEW YORK SYSTEM, LIBERTY SPACE

One year later...

Edison Trent sat alone, slowly sipping at his Sidewinder Fang. He had finally convinced the bartender to stock some of the fine liquor, and the bartender had finally obliged. Trent had lived on Manhattan for the past year after accepting Orillion's proposal to be the "eyes and ears of the Order in Liberty". Trent was not one to develop loyalty to anyone, but he felt that he owed this to Orillion after what they had been through together.

He had not heard from Orillion in six months.

Trent had been a busy man since that final battle with the Nomads. He had become one of the most well known freelancer pilots in Liberty, with a track record unmatched by anyone else. But along with his success as a law-abiding freelancer, he had also found success working underground for some of Sirius Sector's most dangerous criminal agencies. Orillion had suggested that Trent, being a freelancer, may be able to develop working relationships, or at least contacts, with underground organizations that may have useful information for the Order. Trent saw an opportunity to make some big money, and had made a name for himself in criminal circles, going by the name of Carter Logan. Trent found it amusing that many of the acquaintances he had made in the LSF spent a lot of time hunting for Carter Logan, never realizing that many times he was flying on their wing.

He had money. He had fame. He still had the reliable Anubis that he had been given on the Osiris. There was only one thing that Trent's fame could not give him:

Juni.

Edison Trent and Jun'ko Zane had discovered that after the Nomad war, their feelings toward one another went beyond mutual respect and friendship. There had even been talk of marriage, but she had discovered Trent's double life working for criminal organizations in Liberty and had confronted him about it. She refused to believe his explanation that he was doing it for the Order, which even though Orillion had given him the suggestion, he realized that it wasn't his primary reason. He was in it for the money. Oh well, he thought at the time. C'est la vie.

And now, six months after she had left him, the LSF and moved to Kusari, he realized that for the second time in his life, money had cost him someone he held dear. The first time had been the deal for a million credits' worth of Boron that went up in smoke with Freeport 7, and now, his links with the criminal element.

He had to admit, though, that his contacts with crime had paid dividends that were more than mere credits. During one of his excursions outside of Liberty he had made his way to the Omicron Alpha system, home of the Outcasts, who because of his criminal contacts regarded him with indifference. He had learned of a place the Outcasts used as a burial ground of sorts for their finest warriors, believing that they would be protected by "the Spirits." He had originally decided to go to this mysterious place to do a little "grave robbing", as it were, because the Outcasts always left valuable possessions with their deceased warriors. When he arrived, he discovered a jumphole that took him to a previously uncharted system surrounded by Nomads who apparently didn't like his presence there. He fled back through the jumphole and had returned to Manhattan to transmit his findings to Orillion.

Trent downed the rest of his drink and turned to leave. He felt a slight vibrating on his wrist from his wrist alarm, indicating he had an incoming message on his neural net. He turned and made his way to one of several privacy booths along the wall made specially for neural net calls.

"This is Trent."

"Trent, this is Orillion."

"Orillion! It's been a while."

"Yes it has. I have a new assignment for you if you're interested."

"Of course."

"Do you remember the information you transmitted to me six months ago?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Trent, you've uncovered something that could change the way we deal with the Nomad threat. I will explain everything later. Meanwhile, I want you to meet King on Pittsburgh. You'll be escorting a...guest to the Osiris. King will brief you further."

"Wait a second, Orillion. Who is this 'guest'?"

"I can't reveal any details right now, but King will fill you in. He's waiting for you now. Good luck."

Trent switched off his neural net and walked out of the bar. It would be good to see King again. They hadn't seen or spoken to one another since the Nomad battle a year ago. Trent had tried to contact him several times, to no avail. Must've been on duty somewhere secret, Trent thought to himself as he strapped himself into his Anubis.

FORT BUSH, NEW YORK SYSTEM

Trent eased his Anubis toward the trade lane entrance that led to Pittsburgh. He was ready to engage the trade lane when his comm system activated.

"Carter Logan, this is the Liberty Security Force. You will power down your ship and prepare to be taken into custody!"

What the hell? Trent thought to himself. Had his cover been blown?

"LSF patrol, this is Freelancer Alpha 1-1, Edison Trent. I am not Carter Logan!"

"Freelancer Alpha 1-1, you will transmit your neural net file to us fo verification. Hold your course or we will open fire."

Trent transmitted the data and waited. What was going on? Trent was ever so careful about covering his tracks when working for criminal organizations and had always masked his neural net transmissions.

His comm system activated again.

"Freelancer Alpha 1-1, we have verified your identity. We apologize for the inconvenience, Mr. Trent. You're clear to proceed."

Trent slowly let out the breath he had been holding and entered the trade lane.

PLANET PITTSBURGH, NEW YORK SYSTEM

Trent made his way to the docking ring of Planet Pittsburgh. The encounter with the LSF still weighed heavily on his mind. Why had they suspected him of being Carter Logan? Sure, they were right, but what had happened? Trent had not used his alias for several months, deciding that he wanted to take life easy for a bit and enjoy his fame.

Trent forced his attention back to reality. The mining facility where he was to meet King was coming up. He activated the landing sequence and set the ship down on the landing pad. Ten minutes later, he was in the bar.

"Good to see you again, Trent."

Michael King sat at a table with a man that Trent could only assume was the 'guest' Orillion had told him about. The man looked strangely familiar to him.

"Good to see you, King. How's things?"

"Oh, you know. Same old thing. Have a seat."

Trent sat down across from his old friend and noticed that King looked a little worse for wear. A rather large scar ran across his forehead. Trent wondered what King had been up to.

"Oh, Trent, allow me to introduce you to Ernesto Chavez. He is our guest, as it were." Trent and Chavez shook hands.

"It's good to meet you, Mr. Trent. I have heard many stories of your exploits. According to Mr. King, most of them are actually true."

"Speaking of which," interrupted King, "I heard you were actually mistaken for Carter Logan."

Trent felt a twinge in his stomach. He actually felt guilty lying to King, but he couldn't let his guard down now.

"Yeah, I thought it was a little weird myself."

"From what I hear, he's got a pretty good bounty on him. He's raised quite a bit of hell around here. I'd like to take him down, I could use the credits."

Trent wasn't sure he liked where this conversation was going, so he decided to change the subject."

"Orillion said you would tell me what's going on."

"All right," King replied, "business it is. We'll be escorting Mr. Chavez to the Osiris. She's currently in Sigma-13, doing a little surveillance. Mr. Chavez has some information he has agreed to share with the Order."

"I see. It must be pretty important information to warrant an escort and a direct meeting with Orillion."

"It is," replied King. "It is information that is as significant as the discovery you made. Am I correct, Mr. Chavez?"

"That is correct. You see, Mr. Trent, I am an Outcast. And I know why the Nomads leave us alone. Shall we be off, then? Orillion is awaiting us."

**To be continued…..**

**That's it. Sorry for the cliffhanger. R&R please!**


	2. Departing to the Osiris

**Sorry I didn't update. My computer is broken. Enjoy!**

Chapter 2 HONSHU SYSTEM, KUSARI SPACE

Trent flew the lead, as he had in countless missions before. King followed closely behind, flying a brand-new Liberty Defender Mark II. Chavez flew between them in a Border Worlds Stiletto. Trent had often thought about purchasing a new ship, but he had been so successful with the Anubis he thought if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

The trip so far had been relatively uneventful. Usually on a trip of this length, it was safe to expect a pirate attack at some point. They had kept a low profile, speaking very little to one another except when needed. It was King who broke the silence.

"So tell me, Trent, Where did you get your information about the Nomads from? Orillion said it's going to make a big difference."

Trent was silent for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "I'm still a freelancer, King. I hear rumors. This one just turned out to be a good one."

"Well, I guess everyone gets lucky now and then. Hold on...Trent, I'm picking up unknown contacts. Looks like they're on an intercept course. Heads up."

Trent watched his scanner as the number of contacts increased. Finally his computer identified them.

"Outcast Sabres! I count at least ten!" Trent called out.

"Damn! Trent, keep these guys away from Chavez! My gut says they're after him!"

Ten Outcast Sabre fighters emerged from the dust cloud spraying cannon fire at the three ships. The three broke formation and prepared to engage.

"Chavez, this is King! Get to the jump gate! We'll try to hold them off!"

"Negative, I will stay and fight!"

"Dammit, Chavez, this is no time for pride! Get the hell out of here!"

"King, you listen to me. I'm not going anywhere! Deal with it!" And with that, Chavez destroyed one of the Outcast fighters.

Trent had his hands full with another Sabre that he couldn't shake off his tail. Whoever he was, he was good. Trent's shields were taking a beating, and his shield battery supply was getting low.

"King, get this guy off of me!" Trent called out as he dropped several mines. Two of them, luckily, scored a hit, severely damaging the fighter. King came out of nowhere and finished him off with a well-placed gun volley.

"Trent, Chavez, we've got to make a run for it! Let's go!" King punched his cruise engines and made a beeline for the jump gate. Trent noticed smoke and gas pouring out of King's badly damaged ship

Trent's scanner beeped again, and an icy ball materialized in Trent's stomach

"Holy God! I got more contacts coming in!" Trent punched his cruise engines. Chavez did the same.

The Outcasts turned to follow and launched a volley of cruise disruptors at the fleeing ships. One found its mark.

"Trent! Chavez is hit! Cover him!"

"Trent, King. Take Mr. Chavez and head for the gate. We'll cover you," a familiar voice said over the comm channel.

"Von Claussen? Is that you?"

"Ja, it is. Get Chavez out. We will hold them off. Go!"

Trent looked out his cockpit window as a squadron of Anubis fighters appeared and began to engage the Outcasts.

"My cruise engines are back online," Chavez said. "I suggest we do as he says."

"Fine with me," King replied. "Let's go. Thanks, Von Claussen."

"You may thank me later. Now go!"

The three ships engaged their cruise engines and headed for the jump gate.

BATTLESHIP OSIRIS, SIGMA-13 SYSTEM

Trent, King and Chavez approached the Osiris.

"Osiris, this is Escort Group Alpha, requesting clearance to dock. Over."

"Escort Group Alpha, you are cleared to dock. Welcome back."

"Trent, go ahead and dock. I'll meet you and Chavez in the hangar."

"Welcome back, King. Ah, Trent. Good to see you again."

"Good to be back, Orillion."

"And this must me Mr. Chavez. I'm Casper Orillion." The two shook hands. "Come to my office. We have a lot to talk about. I'll see you gentlemen later." Orillion and Chavez walked away.

"Come on, Trent. I could use a drink. My treat."

Trent and King went to the bar and sat down with their drinks.

"You know," King said, "Chavez must know something pretty damn important for his own kind to want to take him down. Obviously something they didn't want us to know about."

"Yeah." Trent replied. He was still wondering why Chavez looked so familiar to him.

"Ah, gentlemen. Do you mind if I join you?" Herr Von Claussen asked.

"Not at all," replied Trent. "But aren't you dead?"

Von Claussen laughed. "No, but it is sometimes advantageous to let everyone think you are. After all, we all have our secrets, don't we?" Von Claussen gave Trent a knowing look that didn't make him feel all that comfortable.

"You are full of surprises, Von Claussen, " King said. "Listen, I got to make a pit stop. Don't steal my drink while I'm away." King rose and left.

Trent waited until King was out of earshot and asked, "So you know?"

"Yes, Mr. Trent. Or should I say, Mr. Logan?" Trent had to smile at that. "Orillion has many ways of acquiring necessary information. As my name is still considered poison in Rheinland, being a dead man has its advantages. And who wouldn't want the best pilot in Liberty working for them? Even criminals, I would wager."

"Well, they pay pretty good."

"Yes, that they do. And the rumors, I hear, are also quite informative. Orillion seems to put a high premium on the information you provided to him."

"So I'm told."

King returned to the table. "You still talking smack about me?"

"Someone has to do it. Your head's big enough already." Trent retorted.

The Osiris bartender walked up to the group.

"Orillion would like to see you in his office."

"Right."

"Ah, Gentlemen, sit down," Orillion said. "I have some very interesting information to give you." Trent noticed that many of Orillion's top agents were also in the room.

"As many of you now know, we have received information regarding the Nomads and the Outcasts. Thanks to the information provided by our newest member, Ernesto Chavez, we now have a new perspective on the Nomads, and possibly a new strategy to fight them.

"Several months ago, Edison Trent received information regarding a jump hole in the Omicron Alpha system that reportedly leads to an uncharted system populated with Nomads. Apparently the Outcasts use the area around the jump hole as a burial ground of sorts for their greatest pilots, believing that "the Sprits" will protect their remains.

"Now, one would think that with a jump hole leading right into the Sirius Sector, the Nomads would be attacking en masse through the hole. But they don't. And now, thanks to Mr. Chavez, we now know why. People, we now have a new weapon in which to fight the Nomads."

"And what would that be?" asked King.

"Cardamine."

**To be continued…..**

**MAJOR CLIFFHANGER! Sorry. R&R please!**


	3. The Cardamine

BATTLESHIP OSIRIS, SIGMA-13 SYSTEM

Silence permeated the room. It was King who finally broke it.

"Um, excuse me, but could you say that again?"

Orillion smiled. "I thought that would get your attention. Apparently, cardamine is a deadly poison to the Nomads. They won't come through the jump hole into Omicron Alpha because the cardamine buried with the Outcast derelicts repels them. It's kind of like the old mythological belief that garlic repelled vampires. Well, I believe that we have found our garlic for the vampires, as it were.

"We intend to figure out a way we can turn cardamine into an offensive weapon. Doing so will inevitably turn the tide in our conflict with the Nomads. That is all the information I can provide at this point. Any questions?"

The room was still silent.

"Very well. Dismissed. Trent, King, would you please stay?"

The room emptied, leaving Orillion, Chavez, Trent and King.

"Gentlemen, we have to move quickly on this. We need to get cardamine samples here to study. Trent, I will leave that in your hands." Trent nodded.

"What?" King said, a little surprised.

"I'll explain later." Trent said. Looks like the gig was up, he thought to himself.

"Good. Meet me in the hangar in one hour. Secondly," Orillion continued, "we need to find Colonel Zane. Trent, do you have any idea where she is?"

Trent winced. "No, she left the LSF and went to Kusari six months ago. I haven't seen her since."

"Hmm, that's an odd move for her. I will contact Lord Hakkera and see if he can locate her. King, I want you to fly to Kusari and meet Hakkera. See if you can help him find Jun'ko. I'm going to take Mr. Chavez down to meet our scientists and brief them. That's all, gentlemen."

Trent and King left the room.

"So, what's with you and the cardamine? You're not a junkie, are you?"

"No, I just have...connections."

"You know, I'm getting kind of tired of hearing about your 'connections'. No more bull, Trent. What are you really doing?"

"Look, King, it's better if I keep it under wraps for awhile."

"Trent, are you a criminal?" King asked bluntly.

Trent exhaled slowly. Well, might as well tell him.

"Sometimes."

The two men looked at each other in an uncomfortable silence.

"Sometimes? What the hell does that mean?" King asked testily.

"What is this, an interrogation?"

"I want to know what it is you're not telling me. You're hiding something. And if you don't tell me I'll take it up with Orillion. We need to have people we can trust here."

Trent finally snapped. "You do that, King, because he already knows. You want the truth? I'm Carter Logan! I've worked for the Liberty Rogues, the Corsairs, the Outcasts, and a lot of others. You want me to go on?"

King stared at Trent with a menacing look in his eyes.

"Damn, you think you know someone." King turned and walked away.

"Trent, I want you to take this ship with you on your run." Orillion had met Trent in the hanger and led him over to a Border Worlds Sabre. Trent looked and liked.

"I can live with that. But why?"

"It's better you go incognito rather than as Edison Trent in one of my Anubises. You think you can dust off Carter Logan again?"

"Do I have a choice? Besides, I think everyone here knows now," Trent said, shooting a dirty look at King on the other side of the hangar. Orillion saw the look and the man it was directed at.

"King knows?"

"Yes."

"Trent, I know you and King are friends, and I'm sorry that I had to put you in such an awkward position. I felt that we could benefit from some criminal perspective, and a freelancer like you seemed the best way to do that."

"It doesn't matter now. I've got to get moving."

"What's your plan"

"Probably Ruiz Base. It's not too far from here."

"Good. Trent, it is vitally important that we get the cardamine, but it is even more important that you use your contacts to get in good with the Outcasts. We may need a lot more cardamine in the future, and they will probably deal much better with a group of so-called terrorists than anyone else."

"Terrorists?"

"Trent, no one in the colonies except for us and President Jacobi know anything about the Nomad incident. The Order is still considered a criminal organization in the Houses. That may work to our advantage."

"I got it. I better get going. See you later."

"Good luck."

RUIZ BASE, OMICRON BETA SYSTEM

"Roger, Mr. Logan. You are cleared for docking. Welcome back."

"Thank you, Ruiz Base. Out."

Trent eased his Sabre into the docking portal, now convinced he would have to convince Orillion into letting him have this ship. It had performed flawlessly, easily handling a Corsair surprise attack in Sigma-19. And, being the top-of-the-line ship of the Outcasts, that certainly couldn't hurt either.

"Ah, Mr. Logan! What a surprise! It's been a long time!" Commodity Exchange Manager Pedro Gallardo exclaimed as Trent walked into the exchange.

"How have you been, Pedro?" Trent asked.

"Ah, business has been a little slow as of late. Don't know why. Must be just one of those things."

"Well, maybe I can help change your fortunes a little bit. I happen to be working for an individual who's looking to establish a route for trafficking cardamine, and I recommended you. He would like to have a sample before he makes an offer, however, and I am the courier. If you please, I need a hold full of your best stuff."

"Anything for my kind of scum. I'll have it loaded for you within the hour."

"Fine. I'll transfer the payment then."

"Oh, by the way, Mr. Logan. If you're interested in making some serious credits, there is a two-million-credit bounty on the head of one Ernesto Chavez. He's a traitorous bastard that has apparently sold the Outcast's most inner secrets to the highest bidder. If anyone can terminate him, it would be you."

Trent smiled. If only you knew, you Outcast weenie. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the tip. You can contact me in the bar when you're ready to settle up." Trent turned around and headed for the bar. Suddenly his neural net silent alarm went off. He walked to a dark corner of the bar and activated it.

"Trent here."

"Trent, it's Juni."

Trent's jaw dropped. "Juni? Where the hell have you been?"

"Trent, I can't talk for long. I need to speak with you in person. Meet me on Ogashawa in Sigma-19. And don't tell anyone else. Please."

"Juni, what the hell is going on?"

"I have to go. Just meet me on Ogashawa and I'll explain. Juni out."

Trent turned off his neural net. What was that all about? he wondered. His neural net alarm for Carter Logan chimed.

"Mr. Logan, your cargo is ready."

"Ah, thank you. I'm now transferring payment. Thanks Pedro. See you soon."

"Good luck my friend."

Trent made his way to the hangar, wondering what he should do. Ogashawa was on the way back to the Osiris; should he stop and see what was up with Juni?

He launched his Sabre into space and decided that he needed to deliver the cardamine first. Orillion needed to hear about this.

**THANK YOU ARINDAM, FOR REVIEWING!**

**Oh and, This Story Will be DISCONTINUED If I doesn't receive more reviews!**


	4. Meeting Juni

BATTLESHIP OSIRIS, SIGMA-13 SYSTEM

"And she didn't say anything else?"

"No," Trent said. "She said she wanted to speak to me and me only. Has Lord Hakkera said anything about her?"

"No," replied Orillion, "You're the only contact we've had with her. Something doesn't seem right."

"She sounded downright freaked about something to me. There's something strange about all this. I don't speak with her for six months, and all the sudden she calls me. I think she's in trouble."

"That's not behavior I would expect from Jun'ko. I think you may be right. What are your thoughts?"

"If she's in trouble, we have to get her out of there. We owe that to her. I think I should go. Alone."

Orillion was silent for a moment. "My instincts are against it, Trent. However, she seems to have a lot of trust in you, or else she wouldn't have contacted you first. All right, go to Ogashawa and find out what's going on. Be careful out there. If there's trouble, I want you out of there. Understood?"

"Got it. I'm going to take the Sabre again. It's best if I do this as incognito as possible."

"Very well. Get going."

GAS MINER OGASHAWA, SIGMA-19 SYSTEM

Trent walked into the bar and looked around. There was no sign of Juni anywhere, and Trent didn't want to ask around for fear that it may cause suspicion. He sat down and asked the bartender if he had a Sidewinder Fang. Surprisingly enough, he did.

"Excuse me, are you Trent?" said a man behind him.

Trent turned around to face the man. "Maybe. Why?"

"I was asked by a Jun'ko Zane to relay a message to a Mr. Trent. You match the description she gave."

"I'm Trent. What's the message?"

"She would like to meet you on C-deck, at the equipment dealer. That is all she said."

"Hmm. Thanks." Trent got up and turned to walk away. The man watched him for a moment, and followed him out.

Trent entered the equipment dealer shop and looked around.

"Trent? Is that you?" a familiar voice said.

Trent turned and saw Jun'ko Zane standing by a rack of ship cannons. He noticed that the rack was out of the view of most of the shop. Trent walked over and looked at her.

"It's been a long time. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Were you followed?"

"I don't think so. Now what the hell is going on?"

"We shouldn't talk here. Come on." Juni led him out of the equipment dealer toward a small storage room. She shut the door behind them.

"All right, Juni. Now what is going on?"

"Trent, I wanted to tell you that you and the Order are in grave danger. The Nomads know that you have the knowledge that may destroy them, and they are preparing to invade Sirius and render it desolate before you can use it against them. We won't be able to stop them this time."

"Juni, how do you know this?"

"I have my sources."

Trent was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. There was something slightly unsettling to all this.

"Why didn't you tell Orillion this. Why tell this to me?"

"Because I knew that if I contacted you, you would come without hesitation. After all, you still have feelings for me."

Trent looked down at the ground, not sure what to say.

"You humans are so predictable," Juni said.

"What?" Trent looked up to find Jun'ko Zane pointing a gun at him.

"Whoa, Juni. What the hell are you doing?"

"Taking advantage of an opportunity. What better way to destroy the Order, the one obstacle standing between us and domination of Sirius than to send back their top agent as one of us?" Juni walked toward him. Her eyes suddenly glowed with bright blue light.

"Good God, you're a Nomad!" Trent exclaimed.

"Very good, Mr. Trent. Now, Prepare to be enlightened. The pain will only last a moment." Juni walked toward him with eyes blazing with dazzling blue light as Trent backed up with nowhere else to go.

Suddenly a loud blast rocked the room as the door was blown from its hinges. Instinctively Trent threw himself to the floor. He heard several shots, then silence. He picked himself off the floor and saw Juni on the ground. King and the man who had delivered the message in the bar were standing in the doorway. King held a stun pistol.

"Come on," King said, "we need to get her into stasis fast! You okay, Trent?"

"I'm fine."

"Good. Let's get out of here!"

Trent, King and the as-yet-unnamed man ran toward the hangar. King carried Juni to his ship as several people in the hangar watched with inquisitive looks.

"Uh, King," Trent said, "What's going on?"

"Not now, Trent. I'll brief you in space."

Trent nodded, ran to his ship and engaged the launch sequence. In five minutes the three ships engaged their cruise engines and headed for the Sigma-13 jump hole.

"Now are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"Yeah," King replied. "First I need to introduce you to Mr. Yamato. He's an agent with the Order."

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Trent. I have heard much about you."

"Pleasure's mine, Yamato. Thanks for the help back there."

"Right," interrupted King. "Yamato sent a message to Orillion after he ran into Juni. He said she was acting very strange and kept saying that she had to meet Trent. Orillion diverted me here to make sure everything was all right. Looks like we got here just in time."

"What about Juni?" asked Trent. "What happens to her now?"

"We're going to put her in a stasis chamber on the Osiris. Word has it that we might be able to remove the Nomad parasite from her without killing her. But it's too early to know for sure. At least the stasis chamber will keep her alive until we can figure it out. And for what it's worth, Trent, I'm sorry I blew a gasket at you. Orillion told me that it was his idea."

"It's all right, King. Let's worry about Juni right now."

"All right, here's the jump hole. After you."

BATTLESHIP OSIRIS, SIGMA-13 SYSTEM

Trent looked at Juni, enveloped in the soft blue glow of the stasis chamber. Juni, or whatever she was, had been right. He did still have feelings for her, and he hoped that the Order scientists would be able to find a way to save her.

His thoughts were interrupted as Von Claussen walked into the room.

"She is tough and defiant, Mr. Trent. She will pull through."

"I'm really trying to believe that, "Trent replied.

"Your belief may not be in vain, my friend. I have news for you. Our scientists are ready to try to remove the Nomad.

Trent exhaled. "I want to be here when they do it."

"Come, my friend. They must prepare her for the extraction."

Juni lay on a surgical bed that was covered in an unbreakable glass shield. This was done in case something went wrong and the Nomad parasite tried to escape.

Trent, King, Von Claussen and Orillion were in the room along with Dr. Reinhardt, the Order's chief medical officer.

"Doctor Reinhardt," Orillion said, "Please begin your briefing."

"Gentlemen, what we are about to attempt has never been tried before. We will be attempting to remove a Nomad parasite from a human host body.

"As you know, everyone who has been 'infected', for lack of a better word, has eventually died from the parasite. Most were killed when we activated the Hyper Gate in the Dyson Sphere. We believe that we can now safely remove the infestation without killing the host.

"Since the narcotic cardamine is a deadly poison to the Nomads, we will attempt to weaken, and possibly terminate the parasite by administering a small dose of the drug, and gradually increasing the dose. Once the parasite has been sufficiently weakened, we will then surgically remove the parasite from the host body.

"Please be aware that this is a procedure that has never been attempted, and that we are unsure of the potential consequences. We are confident, however, that this is the best solution."

"What about cardamine dependence?" asked Orillion.

"Since dependence is based almost exclusively on repeated use, that shouldn't be a problem. With your permission, we're ready to proceed."

Very well, Doctor. Proceed."

Dr. Reinhardt walked over to the surgical table. "Stand by. Administering initial dose. 20cc's."

Trent watched as the drug was injected into Juni's body. Suddenly she began to twitch.

"Looks like it's having an effect. Life signs?"

"Colonel Zane's are stable," replied his assistant.

"Increase dosage. 30 cc's."

Juni's body continued to convulse. Suddenly the blue neck of a Nomad parasite emerged from her mouth. The parasite was thrashing about in agony.

"Life signs are starting to fluctuate!"

"Increase to 50 cc's!"

Juni's body gave one last heave, and the Nomad turned a sickly gray and flopped limply to the bed.

"Nomad life signs are flatline! Colonel Zane's are critical!"

"Let's get this thing out of her! You four, "he said, addressing Trent, King, Von Claussen and Orillion, "I must ask you to leave now. I will keep you appraised on her condition."

The four men got up to leave. Trent took one last look at Juni as the surgical team prepared her.

**To be continued…..**

**THANK YOU FOR REVIEWS EVERYONE!**

**I'l try to make the chapter longer. In the meantime, R&R!**


	5. Nomad attack

BATTLESHIP OSIRIS, SIGMA-13 SYSTEM

Trent paced back and forth across the floor outside the medical quarters.

"You know," King said, "you keep doing that and you'll walk yourself right into a hull breach. Come on, let me buy you a drink."

Trent didn't really feel like it, but he followed King into the bar.

"Oh, did you hear? They think they've developed a way to make the cardamine weapons-grade. How about that? Cardamine missiles. Cardamine torpedoes. Guess it beats cooking your brain cells."

"Yeah," said Trent.

"Rumor has it that they're going to make us start packing cardamine injectors so that the Nomads won't go near us."

"Uh-huh," Trent said.

"Come on, Trent, you gotta take your mind off it. We're all concerned. Worrying about it all the time isn't going to help you or her. Here. Sidewinder Fang on me."

"Thanks King. I just can't believe what happened to her."

"I know. Kinda scary. Makes you wonder how long she was infected. I hope she'll be able to tell us what happened."

"You mean how she got infected?"

"Well, it makes me think that there is still Nomad-infected humans who escaped the first time. And that's not a pleasant thought. Something tells me that it's gonna hit the fan real soon."

Trent took a long pull at his drink. "Here we go again."

Suddenly the alarm klaxon came on.

"Come on!" King said.

"Gentlemen, we have incoming hostiles at long range," said Orillion. "We haven't been able to identify them as of yet due to the nebula, but they are approaching at high speed and we can only assume they have hostile intent.

"All fighter wings will scramble and launch immediately. Let's move, people!"

Trent jumped into his Anubis and activated the launch sequence. Ten seconds later he was in space.

"All right," King said over the comm channel, "Bogies approaching on intercept course. Let's go get' em!" He fired up his cruise engines and the rest of the fighters followed suit.

They emerged out of a dense part of the nebula. There, facing them was a wing of heavy fighters.

Rheinland Valkyries.

"What the hell?" Trent said.

"Attention, Order fighters," a voice came over the comm channel. "You will stand down and surrender Edison Trent to our custody. If you refuse, we will destroy you."

"Umm, Trent," said King over the secure channel, "You know anything about this?"

"No."

"Good." King switched back to the hailing channel. "Rheinland fighters. If you want Mr. Trent, you can come and get him! Break and attack!"

The Order fighters broke formation and began to engage the Rheinland fighters. Trent pursued one and easily dispatched it.

Several other Order ships were not so lucky. The Rheinland pilots were extremely skilled, even more than Trent had ever seen. They blew three Anubises to dust before they knew what had hit them.

"Trent! You got one on your six!" King called out.

Trent's Anubis rattled as the Rheinland guns pummeled his shields.

"Damn! Those sure as hell aren't regular Rheinland guns!" Trent said. "They're eating my shields to pieces!" He tried evasive maneuvers, but the Valkyrie stuck with him.

"Dammit! My shields are gone! King, where are you?" Trent's ship rocked as the guns started their way into the ship's armor.

"King, I'm in serious trouble here!" Trent said. Suddenly he noticed something attached in the cockpit that he had not noticed before.

A cardamine injector.

Several thoughts ran through his mind at lightning speed. The excellent Rheinland pilots. The extremely powerful Rheinland weapons that for some reason looked very familiar.

Trent came to a conclusion that hit him like a ton of bricks He grabbed the cardamine injector and shoved it into the leg pocket on his flight suit. As the last pieces of armor were blown away, Trent pulled the eject handle and the cockpit of his Anubis shot away from the mangled body of his once-faithful ship. A large piece of debris slammed into the pod, and Trent's head smacked into the cockpit window. Everything went black.

Trent slowly awoke to find himself in a dark room, strapped down to a table. He could see three others in the dimly lit room all looking at him. One of them approached.

"Ah, Mr. Trent. I am glad to see you are not seriously hurt."

"Why don't we dispense with the pleasantries and get on with it. What do you want?"

"I would think that would be obvious by now. We want you, Mr. Trent. You are a very valuable asset to us."

"And who would that be? Nomads?"

"Very good, Mr. Trent, your perception is commendable, for a human."

Trent was able to move his hand enough to feel his flight suit leg pocket. The injector was still there. Moreover, with some work and a little luck, he might be able to get it out. He decided that his best chance to stay alive, and stay human, was to keep talking and play along until he could figure out how to get the injector out of his pocket.

"So why am I so valuable to you?"

"Mr. Trent, you are one of the best agents of the Order. Since our first attempt to...recruit you failed, we now must resort to this method."

So these were the bastards that infected Juni, Trent thought to himself. He had finally gotten the pocket open and could feel the injector. He slowly started to pull it out. Fortunately, the room was dark enough that no one seemed to notice.

"Perhaps the transition will be easier if I show you that even people you know understand our cause." He motioned to one of the other figures in the room, who stepped forward into the light.

"Kress."

"You see now, Mr. Trent, even your own comrades are now understanding us. You cannot resist. It is better if you join us voluntarily. As you may have heard, the pain is brief."

"You have no choice, Mr. Trent," Kress said. He looked at Trent, looked at Trent's hand, looked at Trent again and gave him a barely perceptible nod.

"You can have me," Trent said, "when I'm good and dead!" He pulled the injector out fully, jammed it into his leg and shot the drug into his body. Instantly he felt the euphoric rush as the narcotic coursed through his bloodstream. The Nomad who had been interrogating Trent fell back and began to writhe in pain. Kress pulled out a gun he had hidden in his jacket and shot the third man in the room. who fell dead. he then shot Trent's interrogator. Kress came over and unlocked Trent's restraints. He then pulled out a cardamine injector he had hidden and administered the drug to himself.

"Let's go, Mr. Trent. The cardamine will offer protection for only an hour."

Kress and Trent ran down the main corridor. Since Trent had no idea where they were going, he followed close behind Kress.

Two men jumped out and fired at them. Both men dropped to the floor and Kress fired back, killing the two. Kress grabbed one of the men's weapons and handed it to Trent.

"You will need this." Trent took the gun and followed Kress. They turned a corner and stopped, shocked at what they saw.

A group of Nomads, in their true form, were waiting for them. Kress looked at Trent, nodded and ran toward them, firing his weapon. Trent followed suit. A few of the Nomads fell to the gunfire, but most fell back convulsing in agony as the men ran by.

They turned another corner and found themselves in the hangar. It was full of Rheinland Valkyries. Kress and Trent each ran to one as more Nomads entered the hangar. Kress circled his fighter around and fired the ship's cannons. The hangar doors blew open, decompressing the hangar and blowing all of the Nomads into space.

"Let's go, Trent. We have little time."

**Reviews Please!**


	6. Escaping and Briefing

Trent and Kress engaged their cruise engines and flew away from the asteroid base. Several fighters took off in pursuit.

"Be careful, Trent. We have pursuers. Do you think you can handle them?"

"It's been a while since I flew a Rheinland ship, but I can take 'em. Engaging now!" Trent broke away and turned to face the fighters. He targeted the closest as they began to fire their weapons. Trent fired a steady stream of cannon fire and the first ship went up in flames. Kress engaged a second fighter and made short work of him.

"Kress! Two more on your six!" Trent closed in as the two fighters engaged Kress. Trent launched a pair of missiles that took out the shields of one of the fighters. He then finished it off with a well-placed gun blast. Kress dropped several mines at the remaining craft as Trent pulled away. Two mines found their mark, and the ship spun wildly out of control. Trent fired his cannons and destroyed the ship.

"Excellent work, Trent, but there will be more. We must move quickly. Follow me!" Kress engaged his cruise engines. Trent followed.

"Kress," Trent said, "what the hell just happened?"

"I have been working undercover, as it were, for many months now. I discovered that many of the Nomads in Rheinland had survived the activation of the Hyper Gate and had gone into hiding. I asked Orillion if I could investigate this further, and he agreed. I have been hiding here ever since. I have not actually been in contact with Orillion since that time. He probably thinks I'm dead."

"Where are we, anyway?"

"We are in an uncharted system known as Omicron Zeta. The remaining Nomads from Rheinland have taken refuge here. There is a jump hole nearby that will take us to Omicron Gamma."

"Great. Corsair country. So how did you spend so much time there and not be turned into one of them? And how did they miss the cardamine on you and me?"

"Not all of them are Nomads, Trent. Some are still bitter that they couldn't go to war for the glory of Rheinland and have followed the Nomads blindly. I just pretended I was one of them. As for the cardamine, the injector I carried is designed to seal the cardamine completely from the outside environment. I can only assume the one you had is designed the same way. The Outcasts say that it keeps the cardamine pure. It certainly worked to our advantage.

"You see, the reason why the Nomads could not come near us, and the reason why they do not come through the Omicron Alpha jump hole, is that cardamine is actually quite aromatic. Not to human senses, however, but to Nomads it is extremely noxious and potent. If not sealed properly, the vapors of the cardamine causes extreme agony to a Nomad, even at great distances. Direct contact for them is deadly. That's why they couldn't come near us. The cardamine vapors from our bodies repelled them."

"Nice."

"Trent, I have learned that humankind in Sirius does not have much time left. It is vital we return to the Osiris as soon as possible. The rest of the trip will be dangerous. Omicron Gamma is Corsair space, and it's a safe bet that they'll come after us regardless of who we are. We must be on our guard at all times."

"What's going to happen?"

"I would prefer not to say anything until we reach the Osiris. Get ready, here is the jump hole."

OMICRON GAMMA SYSTEM, EDGE WORLDS

Trent and Kress emerged from the jump hole and found themselves surrounded by countless numbers of derelict ships. They all looked to be of Corsair design.

"What is this place?"

"The Corsairs call it 'The Graveyard of the Innocents.' I have heard that it is a form of proving ground for young Corsair pilots. I have plotted us a course that will take us to the Omicron Theta jump hole. It's not far from here. Let's go."

After an uneventful trip, they arrived at the jump hole. Just as they were about to enter, several Corsair ships emerged, saw them, and attacked.

"Great!" Trent yelled as he gunned his thruster and went after one of the ships.

"Trent! Break off and go to the jump hole! We cannot waste any time!"

Trent broke off his attack and headed for the jump hole with several fighters on his tail. Here he was, one of the greatest pilots in Sirius, running like a coward. How nice. He reached the jump hole and went in just as the Corsair ships opened fire. In a flash, he was on his way to Omicron Theta.

BATTLESHIP OSIRIS, SIGMA-13 SYSTEM

"Colonel Kress, it's good to see you alive," Orillion said as he shook Kress's hand. "We thought you were long dead."

"Thank you, Orillion. I must say it is good to be surrounded by my own species again."

"Looks like you're compiling quite a list of people you owe greatly, Trent," Orillion said with a smile. "Are you all right?"

"Fine, except for the damn cardamine crash."

"At least it kept you alive. You can thank Mr. Chavez for hiding the injector in your ship. He felt that eventually it would be of great use to you. Colonel Kress, I believe it is time to debrief you. Let's go. Oh, and Trent, you might want to go to Medical. Someone would like to see you." Orillion and Kress left Trent alone in the hangar. He turned around and made his way into the Osiris' medical quarters.

King was there, and lying on a recovery bed, alive and well, was Juni.

"Trent! Good to see you back in one piece. We were worried. You are still human, aren't you?"

"I'm fine. How are you feeling, Juni?"

"Human, and that's saying a lot. Other than that, I feel like hell."

"Well," King said, "I'll leave you two alone. I got some business to attend to. See you later." King left the room, leaving Trent and Juni. An uncomfortable silence settled between them.

"Edison," Juni finally said, "I just want you to know that I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"I'm sorry for not believing you. I'm sorry for leaving. And I'm sorry I nearly turned you into one of those bastards."

"That wasn't your fault."

"If I wouldn't have been so careless it never would have happened."

"Juni, what happened to you?"

Juni was silent for a moment. "After I left Liberty I went to work for the Kusari Police. One day I was on a patrol when a wing of Blood Dragons ambushed us. Our former friends, Trent. Extremely skilled pilots as you already know, and they had very powerful weapons. Nomad weapons."

"What?" Trent was surprised to hear that. "How did they get Nomad weapons?"

"Somehow the Nomads infiltrated them and began taking them over. Anyway, they destroyed my wing and took me captive. After they...turned me, they sent me out to find you."

"Well, they found me. More than once."

"Trent, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"Juni, it's not your fault. Really."

Silence came between them again as they looked at each other. Finally Trent broke it.

"Maybe it's better if you get some rest now. I'll come back and see you later."

Juni nodded. "All right. See you later."

Trent turned around and left Medical. He needed a drink badly.

"I thought I might find you here," King said as he approached Trent. "Come on, we got a briefing to attend. Cardamine worn off yet?"

"For the most part. What's the briefing about?"

"Armageddon."

"Excuse me?"

"This could be the big one. The big battle. Come on."

"All right, people, settle down," Orillion said. "We have a lot of ground to cover and precious little time.

"As you know, Colonel Kress has returned with information that is extremely alarming. Apparently the few remaining Nomads that survived the Hyper gate incident took up residence in a previously unknown system called Omicron Zeta. Depleted of most of their ships and manpower..." Orillion stopped and smiled at what he had just said, "...they sat and waited for another opportunity. And now, ladies and gentlemen, that time may have arrived. If the reports we have heard are true, they have already begun to prepare for their next move. Lights, please."

The lights in the briefing room dimmed and a holographic projector came on.

"These pictures come courtesy of Kress. Apparently deep in Omicron Zeta is an inactive Nomad jump gate. According to Kress, it is currently not in operation because of heavy damage to the structure, but the Nomads have begun a project to repair the gate and activate it. They are nearing completion of this project.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is what awaits us on the other side of that gate."

The holographic image changed to reveal a sight that made everyone in the room gasp. A gigantic Nomad shipyard appeared, full of Nomad battleships nearing completion.

"There are nearly one hundred Nomad battleships in this shipyard, ready to deploy. Once that gate is completed, they will come through en masse and lay waste to the Sirius system." Orillion let that thought permeate through the room.

"Excuse me, sir," asked King, "but how did we get these images if they're on the other side of the gate?"

"There is a small jump hole near the gate. It is too small for large capital ships and is only suitable for smaller craft. The Nomads have been using it to travel back and forth.

"People, our mission is twofold: First, we will attempt to take out the Nomad jump gate to prevent the Nomad incursion. Secondly, we will send a strike team through the jump hole to sabotage as many of the battleships as we can."

"That should be fun," King whispered to Trent.

"We will be using the new cardamine warheads we have developed in the assault on the shipyard. Since we have few of these warheads available, they must be used sparingly, and every shot has to count.

"Our intelligence tells us that even now, there are Nomads in Sirius preparing for this invasion. We have reports that they have infiltrated Kusari space, and we can only assume that they may be in the other houses as well. I cannot emphasize enough, ladies and gentlemen, the importance of destroying these structures. The fate of Sirius, and that of humankind hangs in the balance."

The briefing room was silent once again.

"Colonel King, you will be leading the strike team against the jump gate, designated Alpha Wing. Colonel Trent, you will be leading Beta Wing, the strike against the Nomad shipyard. Beta Wing will be armed with the cardamine missiles and torpedoes. All but two of the gun mounts on your ships will be replaced with missile and torpedo launchers. I know this leaves you more vulnerable to attack, but since you are the best pilots in the colonies, I assume you'll find a way to manage.

"Also, all ships have been outfitted with a small hold containing a sample of pure cardamine. We hope that this will act as a shield of sorts to keep Nomad ships away from you. Please resist the urge to smoke it." This drew a laugh, easing the tension.

"Any questions? Good luck, and God help us all." Everyone rose and filed out of the briefing room. As they walked out, Von Claussen approached them. Juni accompanied him.

"Juni! How are you feeling?" Trent asked.

"I'd feel better if they would let me fly, but that's not to be. Anyway, I wanted to come down and wish all of you luck." She shook King's hand, then turned to Trent.

"Come back alive." She kissed him on the cheek, turned and left.

"I trust that was for luck?" King asked with a sly grin on his face. Trent smiled back sheepishly.

"So, once more into the breech, my friends," Von Claussen said, "perhaps for the last time."

"Well, at least we'll go down fighting," Trent said.

"And with a fistful of cardamine, too," King said. The three men laughed.

"So, Von Claussen, you're coming with us, then?"

"Yes, I will be flying with you, Trent. I hope that is satisfactory."

"No need to ask. Since you're already dead, that will make you pretty hard to kill."

The Osiris's comm system came to life. "All pilots please report to your ships. Flight crews report to stations. Prepare for launch."

"Well, that's it then. See you in space."

**To be continued…..**

**Thank you for new Reviews everyone! By the way, I'l upload next chapter if I have 3 new reviews. So, R&R everyone!**


	7. Armageddon

OMICRON GAMMA SYSTEM, EDGE WORLDS

The Osiris had jumped into Omicron Gamma and was operating cloaked, positioning itself near the Omicron Zeta jump hole. Every space-worthy fighter the Order could find, scrounge, build, steal and purchase was now in space awaiting the final signal to begin the operation. Orillion had even managed to send word to President Jacobi, who had secretly dispatched two heavy cruisers and several fighter wings to assist in the battle. "It's always nice to have friends in high places," Orillion had said.

Trent had taken up position at the front of his wing. Von Claussen had insisted he act as Trent's wingman, and accompanied him to the front.

"All ships, report in."

The wing began to report in.

"Alpha Three, standing by."

"Alpha Seven, ready to go."

"Alpha Nine, ready."

"All ships show ready," Von Claussen said to Trent.

"King, how's your wing?"

"We're ready to go."

"All right. Beta Leader to Osiris, Beta wing reports ready."

"Alpha Leader to Osiris, Alpha wing standing by."

"All wings, this is the Osiris," Orillion said. "Operation Sirius Hammer is a go. All wings, proceed through the jump hole."

The fighter wings turned and headed for the jump hole. In minutes the fighters and heavy cruisers had gone through and were beginning to assemble on the other side of the jump hole.

"Beta Leader, this is Alpha Leader. All my ships have reached the rally point and show ready."

"Copy, Alpha Leader. Beta wing shows ready."

"This is Liberty Wing Gamma, we're at the rally point. Standing by."

"All right, gentlemen, this is it," King said. "I've uploaded the jump gate into your neural nets. Stand by to engage cruise engines on my mark. Three...two...one...charge!" King and hundreds of ships kicked in their cruise engines and headed for their appointment with destiny...or doom.

The Order attack fleet flew through a heavy dust cloud.

"I'm not showing any hostiles yet," noted King, "but this dust could be interfering with scans. Stay frosty, people."

The dust cloud began to thin out, and the ships emerged from the cloud into open space.

"Good God, there it is! Alpha Wing, prepare to engage! Trent, I'm dispatching the Liberty fighters and cruisers to provide you cover for your run to the jump hole. Looks like it's not too far from the gate. Good luck, and you owe me a drink if we survive this."

"Good luck to you, King. Beta wing, prepare to break on my mark...now!"

Trent and his fighter wing broke formation and headed for the jump hole.

"Heads up people!" King said. "Nomad fighters coming in!"

Trent looked up to see several waves of Nomad fighters coming toward them.

"Beta Leader, we'll handle them," the commander of the Liberty fighters said. "Liberty Wing, break and engage!" The Liberty fighters broke and began to attack. The cruisers provided cover fire.

A group of Nomad fighters broke off and began to engage Beta Wing as they made their run for the jump hole. As they approached weapons range, Trent noticed that the Nomad ships seemed to lose control for a moment, then they broke off and flew away, taking their shots from extreme range.

"The cardamine seems to be holding them off!" Trent said.

"Don't count your chickens yet, Trent. They're eating us up from long range. Good luck, buddy."

"Stand by, here's the jump hole. All fighters follow me!" Trent flew into the jump hole and the rest of the fighters followed suit. Even after seeing the images of what awaited them, Trent was in shock at what he saw.

The Nomad shipyard stretched for what looked like eternity. A large structure, the other end of the Nomad jump gate, stood nearby.

"Sweet mother of God," Trent breathed.

"I don't think even she can help us now," Von Claussen said. "There's too many of them."

"Beta Wing, lock and load!" Trent armed his first torpedo and flew to the closest battleship as a wave of Nomad fighters engaged them. Trent targeted the battleship and launched the torpedo, pulling away to avoid enemy fire.

The warhead closed the gap in a few seconds, striking the battleship amidships. The warhead exploded, and the effect was unlike anything the pilots had ever seen. The battleship wobbled and seemed to melt into nothingness before their eyes, leaving nothing but a few scattered fragments.

"My God, the warheads work!" Von Claussen yelled. "All fighters engage the battleships! Take them down!" The Order fighters complied, launching their torpedoes. Several of the warheads were destroyed on approach, but many found their targets. In a matter of minutes, twenty-two Nomad battleships had been eliminated. Losses for the Order were also heavy. Even with the cardamine on board to repel the Nomads, fifteen fighters had been destroyed.

"Beta Wing, this is Beta Leader. Give me a weapons check," Trent called.

The news was not good. Each of the fighters had been armed with two cardamine warheads. There were now a total of twelve torpedoes left, and at least fifty Nomad battleships were still operational.

"Damn! We're going to have to try our conventional weapons. We've got to take out as many as we can."

"My God in heaven," Von Claussen whispered. "We are too late."

Trent turned and felt an icy ball materialize in his stomach. The Nomad jump gate leading to Omicron Zeta suddenly flashed to life, and the remaining Nomad battleships powered up and began to move to the now-active gate. Trent cursed and flew toward the closest battleship, firing every weapon he had at his disposal.

It was not enough. The remaining cardamine torpedoes had been fired, taking down nine more battleships. The rest of the battleships began to move through the gate into the Sirius Sector.

NOMAD JUMP GATE, OMICRON ZETA SYSTEM

King watched with horror as one battleship after another came through the jump gate. They seemed to ignore the human ships completely as they entered formation nearby. The human ships, meanwhile, had their hands full dealing with the numerous Nomad fighters that seemed to keep coming out of nowhere.

Now what? King thought to himself.

At that moment, Trent, Von Claussen and what remained of Beta Wing emerged through the jump hole near the Nomad jump gate.

"Trent! What happened? What's your status?" King said.

"All of our torpedoes are gone. We have a few missiles left, but I doubt they'd even dent the Nomad fleet. How about you?"

"The damn Nomads had the gate heavily shielded. There was no way we could penetrate it before it went active. We've got to get out of here and regroup on the Osiris."

"We're not going to get another shot at this, King. You said yourself that this was Armageddon."

"So what do we do now?"

"I sure as hell am not going down quietly. Anyone who wants to join me feel free." With that, Trent turned his Anubis toward the nearest battleship and fired his guns.

King smiled to himself. "You know, that's a piss poor way of getting out of buying me a drink. Tally-ho!" King punched his thrusters and joined the fray.

Fortunately for the Order ships, the remaining cardamine missiles did have an effect on the Nomad battleships. While they did not destroy them completely, six of the massive ships were disabled.

"Damn," said Trent, "we just don't have the firepower. We need a miracle."

"Somebody call for a miracle?" said a familiar voice.

"Juni? What the hell?"

Several spacecraft emerged from the nearby dust cloud. Trent watched in awe as ships from Bretonia, Kusari and even Rheinland flew in formation, heading toward the battle.

"Did you really think I would let them ground me?" Juni asked.

Another familiar voice came over the comm system. "All Blood Dragon fighters, this is Lord Hakkera. Target the battleships. These are your primary targets."

"Bretoina Wing, this is Colonel Tobias. Break formation and provide cover to the Dragons."

"Tobias?"

"Hello, laddy. Quite an occupation you have here."

The Blood Dragon fighters flew in and launched their salvo of torpedoes. Several more Nomad battleships were destroyed. The Bretonian and Rheinland ships engaged the Nomad fighters, keeping them away from the Blood Dragons.

"It's a good thing not all the Blood Dragons are Nomads," Trent said.

"Lord Hakkera gathered the remaining ones to assist us," replied Juni. "Just in time, too, from the looks of things. Watch your six!" Juni launched a missile that hit a Nomad fighter dead-on and destroyed it.

At that moment the Nomad jump gate went active again. More battleships began to come through.

"Oh my God..." breathed Juni. "What now?"

From out of the dust cloud a large transport appeared and flew toward the gathering Nomad battleships.

"Everyone clear away from the battleships!" said a voice.

"Chavez? is that you? What the hell are you doing?"

"Shut up and do as I say! I've got a hold full of cardamine and you don't want to be caught in this blast!"

"What is that crazy bastard trying to do?" yelled King.

"I am atoning for all that I have done in the past. Now get out of here! Now!"

"Chavez, wait!"

"MOVE IT!"

The ships began to move away as the transport rocketed at maximum velocity toward the battleship formation.

"Vaya con Dios, my friends..." were the last words from Chavez as the transport's engines detonated in the center of the Nomad formation, turning the ship into a giant cardamine bomb. The shock wave from the explosion slammed into the Nomad battleships. The Order pilots watched in awe as battleship after battleship disintegrated from the force of the blast and the effects of the vaporized cardamine.

"That son of a gun did it!" King yelled. "Take out the gate before any more come through!"

The ships focused all of their fire on the Nomad gate. Within moments the gate went up in flames, taking two more Nomad battleships with it that were trying to come through.

"Mission accomplished," said King. "Let's go home."

**To be continued…..**

**Sorry for not uploading for so long but I had some veeeery annoying writers block.**

**This story is not finished though, I'l write an epilogue after this. By the time, R&R!**


	8. Epilogue

Epilogue BATTLESHIP OSIRIS, SIGMA-13 SYSTEM

The celebration on board the Osiris was, to say the least, spirited. Even Orillion, as cautious as he was, enjoyed the celebration. King had drunk more than his share, and looked to be passed out in a corner booth. Lord Hakkera had broken out a bottle of three-hundred-year-old sake and was sharing it liberally with the Blood Dragons he had led.

Trent sat at another end of the bar with Tobias.

"So tell me, old man, how did you find out about our little adventure here?"

"You can thank your friend Juni. She contacted me and told me what was happening. I summoned some of my old flying buddies and we came to do what we could."

"Excuse me, gentlemen," said Juni behind them, "I need to borrow Trent for a moment."

Tobias looked at Trent and winked. Trent got up and followed Juni.

"Orillion wants to speak with us," Juni explained as she led Trent to Orillion.

"Ah, there you are," said Orillion. "We have achieved a great victory today, but I still fear that we have not seen the last of them. In the meantime, however, you two have earned a nice long vacation. I have managed to secure two tourist permits to planet Gaia over in Edinburgh."

Juni smiled and slid her hand into Trent's.

"Now get out of here before I find something else for you to do." Orillion smiled and turned back to his drink.

"Guess we better do as he says," Trent said as he and Juni walked away.

"You know, I've been wondering," Juni said. "Do you think we'll ever know how and why Chavez did what he did?"

"Probably not. All that matters is he died a hero's death and saved humanity. I think that makes up for a lot."

Juni thought for a moment. "You know, it might take a little while to mop up the remaining Nomads in the colonies."

"Well then, we'd better get out of here before they assign us to find them."

Juni smiled. "You're right. Now let's go get lost."

**THE END**

**Sorry for not uploading because my computer f****d up because of a virus. By the way, I'm actually releasing this epilogue with a new fanfic, Freelancer: The Ancients. But because it aws consumed by the virus, I have to create it from scratch. So, be patient please.**


End file.
